EDIT: The Cut-A-Thon will be rescheduled for a later date due to an unexpected family emergency.
For 25 hours on November 4 and 5, the employees at Neighborhood Barbershop will chop hair until they drop.
Coming back for its fifth year, the barber shop’s annual 25 Hour Chop-’til-We-Drop Cut-A-Thon, an all-night hair cutting marathon that raises money for an Alexandria homeless shelter.
The money raised by the Cut-A-Thon goes toward New Hope Housing, an organization that offers temporary housing and shelter, while also working to get people into permanent housing. Foley said the barber shop is hoping to raise around $12,000 at this year’s marathon. New Hope has stayed as the same organization the marathon has raised money for since the Cut-A-Thon’s first event five years ago.
“Their needs never really diminished because unfortunately, the housing problem hasn’t improved much,” Foley said. “Hopefully one day it won’t be and we can move on to something different.”
A personal tie with the barber shop and the shelter is that some of Neighborhood’s barbers will cut and shave peoples’ hair on the weekends at New Hope, a “baton” Foley said was passed onto him by a fellow employee.
“[The barbershop] wants to get people in a situation where they feel good about themselves, or be able to feel a bit more confident going into job interviews and such,” Foley said.
The Cut-A-Thon normally stays busy with cutting and shaving participants’ hair throughout the 25 hours, with Foley saying that local businesses contribute to the event such as bringing food in the middle of the night and holding raffles or giveaways associated with the marathon.
“There’s just been an outpouring of support for a bunch of years,” Foley said.
For those who may not need a cut or shave, Foley said people can still show their support by coming in and donating cash money, new or used bath towels or new boxer shorts in any size.
“A lot of people will hear about it on the news and then swing by at some point,” Foley said. “A lot of people were like ‘I don’t need a haircut, but I just want to help out.’”
“Staying awake and alert” is one of the biggest challenges with hosting the Cut-A-Thon Foley said, but with more and more people coming in either to participate or keep the barber shop company, a “rhythm” is found to keep the barbers awake.
“Everybody seems to love the novelty of getting a haircut or a beard trim in the middle of the night,” Foley said. “It’s such an odd thing for most people to be able to roll into a barber shop at three or four in the morning to get a haircut.”
For people who are unaware of the Cut-A-Thon or are deciding if they want to participate in it, Foley said it’s an opportunity to spend “a couple of bucks” on themselves and for people in need.
“These folks are our neighbors or our friends, and they can use a hand,” Foley said.
